Obits: America’s Poet Laureate Maya Angelou Passes Away At 86

“I want to write so well that a person is 30 or 40 pages in a book of mine … before she realizes she’s reading.” – Maya Angelou

Certain people bless the world with their presence and transcend race more the great majority of us can ever hope. Singer, actress, editor, screenwriter, activist and all-around renaissance woman, Maya Angelou, passed away at the age of 86. Her agent, Helen Brann, confirmed the news to ABC.

“She’d been very frail and had heart problems, but she was going strong, finishing a new book,” said Brann. “I spoke to her yesterday. She was fine, as she always was. Her spirit was indomitable.”

As noted by Brann, Dr. Angelou’s physical well-being had been declining. Just two days ago, she reportedly pulled out of an honorary event for Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Game due to undisclosed health reasons. Angelou also was forced to cancel another appearance in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last month due to an unexpected ailment that caused a brief hospital stay.

Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.

Not to come off as the guy who gives someone their roses while they’re no longer able to smell them, but by far the most admirable part of Angelou was my personal belief she had always been self-made. She created her legacy, impacted people through her own words and left a mark comparable to some of the finest revolutionaries to walk on the same dirt any of us did.

And to hit home in a more personal manner, who could forget the one girl in our elementary and/or middle school who performed either “Still I Rise” or “Phenomenal Woman” at talent shows like clockwork.

The point is her impact spoke to generations far beyond her own, certainly younger ones which is an unheralded accomplishment in its own. An old head once told me you’ll see how many people you impacted once you’re looking down at everyone from heaven and see people reflecting on your life who shows up to your funeral.

If that’s the case, expect Maya Angelou received her angel wings long before arriving at heaven’s gates.

“I am grateful to have been loved and to be loved now and to be able to love, because that liberates. Love liberates. It doesn’t just hold—that’s ego. Love liberates. It doesn’t bind. Love says, ‘I love you. I love you if you’re in China. I love you if you’re across town. I love you if you’re in Harlem. I love you. I would like to be near you. I’d like to have your arms around me. I’d like to hear your voice in my ear. But that’s not possible now, so I love you. Go.'” — Queen Maya Angelou

I hate to be that guy, cuz money ruins everything. But I feel like a movie about her entire life is much needed. I don’t think this generation of women and men understand her depth and importance to our culture.
Movies are only about making money and that’s the shitty part, but I think a maya Angelou movie is required watching for this entire generation. Not saying they are lost, but that can only help instill some self love and pride that is much needed in this world.
Sorta like when I learned who medgar Evers was.

Best part about Maya Angelou and her legacy is that she shatters the respectability politics that so many black folk think we (particularly women) need to thrive in America.

She was a night club dancer, prostitute, scholar, civil rights activist, poet, filmmaker and the list goes on. I loved that she owned those aspects of who she was – the wholeness of who we are far exceeds the shiny, peachy shit that we like to discuss – that is what makes her bold and brilliant.

I say that particularly because a lot of what was being said on Twitter involved things along the lines of: “hoes” talkin about Dr. Angelou all of a sudden and that shit angered me.

The scariest part about losing people as amazing as her is that I have absolutely NO clue who will take on a role like hers. Who is analogous to her in our generation? Who will do the work?